All Desktops

The Bottom Line: HP's Pavilion Slimline S7310t is a great example of the strengths of the slimtower PC. Fast, loaded with features, and attractive enough to put almost anywhere, this SlimLine is a competent, economical alternative to the new crop of affordable all-in-one computers--especially if you already have a display in need of a PC to put it to work.

The Bottom Line: You can find more-cost-effective large-screen all-in-ones for general productivity, but Sony's Vaio LV250B is our favorite for home entertainment. Loaded with unique features geared toward digital media convenience, this system will meet the needs of anyone looking for a PC to use as an entertainment hub.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 (2.80 GHz), 4 GB DDR II SDRAM, 500 GB Portable, NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT, EPEAT Silver, RoHS, EPA Energy Star, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition, Media center

The Bottom Line: Instead of succumbing to the latest fads, the Sony Vaio JS250J all-in-one PC stays the course pioneered by its models from last year, delivering capable performance and best-of-breed home entertainment features at a better price than its all-in-one competition. The Vaio JS250J will appeal to anyone in need of a multipurpose home PC.

Specs: Intel Pentium Dual Core E5200 (2.5 GHz), 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 320 GB Standard, NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS, EPEAT Silver, EPA Energy Star, RoHS, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition, Personal computer

The Bottom Line: ZT's smartly configured Affinity 7308Ma offers a Blu-ray drive and fast application performance, both rare for its $699 price tag. You won't show off this midtower PC off for its looks, but we recommend it to those who enjoy the satisfaction that comes with finding a hidden bargain.

Specs: AMD Phenom II X4 920 (2.8 GHz), 4 GB DDR II SDRAM

The Bottom Line: We suspect lower-end configurations of the Dell Studio One 19 all-in-one desktop will draw consumers looking for a low-cost, "fast enough" PC. But even its multitouch interface can't save our expensive review unit from other vendors' similarly priced all-in-ones with better features for the dollar.

Specs: Intel Pentium Dual Core E5300 (2.6 GHz), 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 500 GB Standard, nVidia GeForce 9400 Integrated Graphics, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64Bit

The Bottom Line: The AVADirect shopping experience can be daunting, but for the tech-savvy buyer willing to navigate the many options available for this system, you'll find that AVADirect's Custom Gaming PC is competently built, with options for blazing fast overclocking, all at an attractive price.

Specs: Intel (2.66 GHz), 6 GB DDR II SDRAM, 1500 GB

The Bottom Line: In a normal economy, we'd expect that Falcon Northwest's new Core i7 FragBox 2 would wow us with fast performance in a compact case. Instead, the price of this system as configured has been severely undercut by a competitor. An improved warranty takes the edge off somewhat, but the new market reality makes it hard to recommend this PC.

The Bottom Line: By tweaking its internal components to achieve maximum 3D performance, Velocity Micro has made its $999 Edge Z5 one of the most impressive lower-end gaming desktops we've ever seen. As long as you don't mind sacrificing a bit of productivity speed to get it, we recommend this system to any PC gamer on a budget.

Specs: Intel Quad-Core Q9400 (2.66 GHz), 4 GB, 750 GB Standard, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition

The Bottom Line: Apple's new eight-core Mac Pro demonstrates marked improvements over the older model in high-intensity digital media and multitasking scenarios. We also love the design tweaks that improve on Apple's already industry-leading sensibilities. Any Apple-bound design professional would welcome this new tool in his or her arsenal.

Specs: Intel Xeon (2.26 GHz), 6 GB DDR3 SDRAM, 640 GB Standard, NVIDIA GeForce GT 120, EPA Energy Star, EPEAT Gold, Apple MacOS X 10.6, Personal computer

The Bottom Line: Even though Dell's Studio XPS-122B has the latest Intel CPU, its sparse configuration feels like a throwback. This is not to say it's slow or lacking in features, but you'll find this system has relatively few aspirations aside from serving as a standard desktop. We recommend it to anyone in need of raw computing power for an affordable price.